I'll Stand By You
by Cheelalaucha
Summary: Three members of the Glee club are expelled. Artie, Quinn, Kurt. They probably need each other more than they ever thought. They're there for each other when faced with a new school and the inevitable prejudices against them. Artie, Quinn, Kurt friendship
1. Intro: Must Be Dreaming

**Okay, so I wanted to pick three people unlikely to interact with each other unless thrown into some odd situation. When Kurt, Quinn, and Artie get expelled, their new school makes them realize how good they had it before. I'm not sure of the whole direction that this is going, but, it'll prolly be a bit rough for each of them in turn. I needed some sort of beginning to set the stage and arrange the puzzle pieces. If your interest isn't piqued by the end, add the story to your alerts and see if it surprises you.**

**Oh and, in the spirit of _Glee_, I'm naming a couple of songs that either the characters would or could be listening to and identifying with. You can listen to them, most likely, on YouTube by typing it in the search box. This chapter (after leaving school that day, laying on their respective beds, processing the news) for Quinn: "Must be Dreaming" by Frou Frou. And: "Cave In" by Owl City. Probably Kurt for that one. And for Artie: "Getting Better" by The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper album).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Glee_.**

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"This isn't happening," Kurt repeated for the fourth time.

"I think it is," Artie replied numbly.

"Oh God," Quinn breathed with wide eyes and practically fell she sat down so fast.

"This isn't happening," Kurt said again, standing frozen.

"Hm," Artie grunted in response.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God" Quinn took a page out of Kurt's book and just started repeating the same phrase over and over under her breath.

Artie flinched as Sue Sylvester's voice rang shrilly from the stage.

"These children have shown less than no respect for this school – they've shown outright _hatred_. And it _sickens_ me."

Artie glared at her for that boldfaced lie and glanced up to see how Kurt was doing. He was turning a pasty white color and still hadn't sat down. Artie tugged on his sleeve and he dropped like a stone, the same as Quinn, and started shaking a little as he gazed at the floor with eyes empty from shock. Artie grimaced and returned his gaze to the tall, blond Cheerio coach who was still pointing an accusing finger their way.

"It'll be okay," Artie whispered to Kurt and Quinn, one on either side of him. "We haven't done anything, she can't touch us. This is insane; there's no way she'd get away with it."

"You idiot," Quinn whispered as she started to quietly cry. "They have two witnesses!"

"But we didn't do anything!" Artie retorted loudly. Heads turned in their direction, and the Cheerios coach broke off mid-line to shake her head in exaggerated disappointment. "We didn't do anything!" Artie repeated hotly, wheeling himself backward and around the group in the auditorium, where this little impromptu meeting had sprung up. "We have no idea what you're talking about!" He considered that this might all be some elaborate joke, but he didn't like the serious expression the principle and Mr. Schuester had on their faces.

He stuttered from wanting to get the sentence out so quickly. "Mr.- Mr. Schuester! You can't honestly think that we'd do something like this?" he implored, wheeling up to him.

"She's got evidence, Artie, I'm sorry," Will Schuester replied sadly, and looked away as if he couldn't bare to look at him anymore, he was so disappointed in him.

Artie laughed because of the insanity of the whole situation but stopped when the red-clad blond shook her head sadly at him. It was then that Artie realized that they were entirely serious and clammed up. He rolled, dumbfounded, back to his spot next to Kurt. He took up Kurt's idea to stare emptily at the floor.

"But Mr. Schuester, who are these witnesses?" Quin asked from her seat, staring in his direction fretfully.

Mr. Schuester looked uncomfortable and crossed his arms over his chest before responding levelly, "Coach Sylvester has two witnesses willing to give a recount of the events, but…" Mr. Schuester glanced awkwardly over at the group of girls in Cheerios uniforms. "The entire team admits to seeing you three hanging around her office this morning," he finished lowly.

Artie and Quinn glanced over at the Cheerios on the other side of the auditorium while Kurt remained staring at the floor.

"Who are the witnesses?" Quinn demanded of the adults, glancing at each one in turn.

The principal finally spoke up. "Brittany Reynolds and Santana Lopez."

All three of them moved their heads to stare at the pair who, they just noticed, were sitting the closest to the stage and Coach Sylvester. The two didn't look at them, just fidgeted in their seats. All three of the Glee club members felt betrayed even though they hadn't actually done what was suspected of them.

"They're lying," Quill said angrily, letting her betrayal show.

"I have pictures," Sue Sylvester interjected happily.

"Yes," the principal agreed, waving some papers he held in his hand. He looked over at Quinn, Artie, and Kurt. "And they are very," here he looked to Coach Sylvester, "convincing."

"But-" Artie started again in indignation but was cut off.

"I'm sorry children, but you've brought this on yourselves. The evidence shows you removing Coach Sylvester's diary from her office, and I can't have thieves running around McKinley High! I have no choice, since it was a member of the staff you stole from! I warned you with the Glist, and posting Coach Sylvester's diary all over the internet far exceeds what I thought you were capable of." The principal looked from them to Mr. Schuester and then back again. "You're expelled as of 3 pm today," he finished lamely and got up and left the auditorium through the door farthest away from the students.

"What?" Artie tried following, but he couldn't maneuver right through his astonishment and hit his knuckles painfully on Quinn's and Kurt's chairs. "But Mr. Schuester!" he yelled, searching for a sane person among the crowd. "This is ridiculous, they're lying, you know that!"

"I'm sorry, Artie," Will Schuester repeated sadly. He got up and left through the same door as the principal, deep disappointment clear on his face.

Artie's face was screwed up in a mangled expression, Quinn was crying, and Kurt had yet to move, having believed right from the start that they had no hope in this predicament. Quinn had actually heard about the plan, but she'd had no idea it was going to be involving her, and certainly not expelled! She knew, though, that they'd left no holes in their plan. They'd bribed the A/V club to do the photos, and the Cheerios had all agreed to frame a couple of kids from the Glee club to disqualify them from Regionals.

"Oh my God." Kurt broke his mantra and covered his face with his hands.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Artie said.

Quinn ignored them, got up, and left. Artie tugged on Kurt's shirt to get him moving. He did but his face was red. Artie grimaced and nodded his head toward the door.

"Let's go." Artie nudged him out of the auditorium.

The rest of the Glee club was waiting outside the door since they hadn't been allowed in.

"What happened?" Finn pushed out from the group. "Quinn wouldn't say anything."

"What did you guys do?" Rachael accused. "Regionals are in a month – we don't have time for you guys to be goofing off!"

"Shut up, Rachael – nobody likes you." Kurt walked off with a glare at Rachael.

She looked hurt and everyone else just looked stunned. Artie watched him go with a half-frown-half-grimace. A click from behind made his head turn. Brittany and Santana were coming out of the auditorium, watching him carefully. For his part, he gave them the nastiest look that he could with a shake of his head; he was so disgusted by them. He started after Kurt, but Santana stopped him.

"Wait! Artie, look, I'm sorry, she made us tell that story. She threatened us," Santana insisted, and Brittany nodded.

Artie believed them, but he didn't care. Some team mates. He wanted to tell her to stuff it, but didn't.

"What's going on?" Mercedes interrupted, walking over to him and Santana.

He was quiet, just glaring at Santana because she was standing in his way and so was Mercedes.

"Artie?" Tina asked him from behind.

He couldn't ignore that sweet voice, so he turned himself around and looked her in the eye.

"The Cheerios framed us to keep us out of Regionals, with Brittany and Santana as their star witnesses," he let out calmly, but he was furious inside.

Tina looked accusingly over his head at the two girls as everyone else did the same. Artie took that opportunity to wheel past her and around the crowded group.

He noticed that Kurt was waiting for him at the end of the hallway, glaring over his head at the entire group. He was surprised when he started walking next to him; Kurt and him had never been good friends.

"I can't believe they did this to us." Kurt looked down at him and Artie nodded in agreement, still processing.

"My Dad's going to kill me," Artie said worriedly. This time, Kurt nodded.

"I know my Dad won't take this sitting down," Kurt said roughly. "He'll believe me if I tell him I didn't do it."

"Where did they get _proof_?" Artie was beyond confused.

"Fabricated," Kurt proclaimed, and Artie nodded. "Those… _Cheerios_."

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**Alerts, reviews anyone? Do you know yet what I plan to do to Artie? Can you tell me how Quinn and Artie are going to help Kurt? Could you imagine those guys having to go up against their own team? Who knows... Thanks guys! Review/Alert!**


	2. Chapter 1: Defying Gravity

**Wow, thank you thank you thank you for every person who added this story to their alerts, favorites, and reviewed with such kind words! I never expected such a great response, and I thank you yet again. :-D If you're deeply curious about what happened right after that scene and at home with their families, I promise to write it in later. Right now, starting here makes it easier to imagine their fears and how _this_ is their first day of the new place. I don't intend to always jump around so much - in fact, I almost just started here, but decided the intro was probably a good idea.**

**Anyway, here are the songs each of them would have probably been listening to that morning when they couldn't sleep and were psycing themselves up for the big day today. Artie: "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles. (Hey, he _did_ sing the Beatles in his audition for the part of Artie, right? Haha.) Quinn: "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. Really really bad day, yikes. Kurt: Basically, the entirety of the _Wicked_ soundtrack, but in particular "Defying Gravity" sung by the Original Broadway Cast, Krisin Chenoweth (AKA April on _Glee_) and Idina Menzel (AKA Carmel High's showchoir coach on _Glee_). Season finale tomorrow night!**

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**R u up yet?**

Kurt flipped his phone shut. He was freaking out. It was 6:30 am and he wasn't quite sure yet that he wasn't going to puke.

**Chill.**

Artie's one word response did nothing to stave off his nerves, and he realized then that he was pacing. He stopped in surprise and scowled. He started pacing again. It helped. His teeth chattered a little and he went upstairs just so he wouldn't have to think about how he was freaking out, thus increasing the freaking.

**I'm sorry.**

Brittany again. He rolled his eyes, deleted the text, and skidded to a stop just as he was about to collide with his dad. His dad put his hands on his shoulders to steady him and he relaxed a little. His dad was his best friend; being around him always made him calmer.

"Kurt, watch it kid. Shouldn't you be on the bus by now? It's 6:50," Burt said with concern, glancing over his shoulder at the digital clock on the microwave.

"No it's not, it's only 6:30," Kurt said, a little harried and still jittery. "They're gonna kill me, dad – their dumpsters are twice as big as McKinley's," Kurt said worriedly, looking his dad in the eye.

Momentarily sidetracked, Burt's face showed confusion and suspicion. "Dumpsters?"

Kurt's heart stopped and his eyes went wide at his misstep. "Yeah…" he thought fast. "You know, more trash means more smell. Ha ha, gotta impress those guys on the first day or they really—" Kurt trailed off as he moved out of his dad's reach and eye contact. He opened his eyes wide at his idiotic move while he headed for the fridge to play it nonchalant.

He wasn't hungry at all, he still felt kind of ill, but he wasn't sure if his dad had swallowed that last bit. He glanced at the clock nervously as he opened the fridge door. He reached for the carton of orange juice but it slipped from his fingers as his brain caught up with him.

"It's 6:53," Kurt said flatly, staring at the clock now.

"Yeah," his dad said, distracted for the moment. "I thought school started—whoa! Kurt!" He watched him fly down the stairs then back up with his backpack slung over his shoulder. "Bye!" he yelled before the door slammed. He shook his head at his son and grabbed another cup of coffee from the pot.

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Kurt was about to die of heart failure as he ran the last few yards of his street. If his bus had been on time, he was screwed. He heard the rumbling of the unique engine getting closer. He wasn't over the hill yet; if he didn't get close enough for the bus driver to see him, he faced the absolute torture and embarrassment of entering his first class late. Then there would be snickering and name-calling – how could _anyone_ rise above first-day humiliation? He was going to catch this bus even if it killed him. He practically threw himself forward over the top of the hill, and promptly fell flat on his face on the grass as the bus came to a screeching stop.

Inside the bus, in the back, Artie winced and lifted himself up a bit to see if Kurt was okay. It looked like he'd hit the ground hard, and his backpack was thrown from his shoulder. Artie looked on in sympathy as Kurt finally got to his knees, wiped the grass off of his cheek and grabbed his bag again. He watched him hobble to the bus and heard him troop up the steps.

He saw how red Kurt's face was, and he didn't think Kurt realized that the bus was empty besides them two. Since they were probably out of his way, Artie figured it must have just been easier to pick him, Kurt, and Quinn up first and go on his usual route after. It made sense, what with the early pick-up and the empty, giant bus. He saw Kurt stop halfway down the aisle in confusion, and he laughed. So, the only one who'd seen him face plant was someone he already knew; lucky him.

"Hey," Artie laughed from the back. "Trying out for track and field?" he jibed.

"God, can't believe I spent two hours picking out my clothes just to get them grassy. I knew I should have worn the green stripes. And this day was already going to be a nightmare," Kurt said forlornly.

Artie wasn't sure a laugh or cry would be appropriate, so he just smiled to himself as Kurt took the seat in the back diagonal to him. He saw Kurt put his head in his hands, still catching his breath, it looked like, and he frowned.

"Are you okay?" Artie wouldn't have asked, except Kurt _had_ just smacked himself pretty hard. A laugh escaped him, but the loud engines covered it well.

Kurt ignored the question and sat up straight again. "Why isn't anyone here?" he asked instead, looking stressed.

Artie opened his mouth but his teeth clacked together as the bus screeched again to a rough stop. He braced himself on the seat in front of him in annoyance. They'd been doing a lot of speeding and quick stops, and he was fearing for his life a little bit with this wacko driver.

Artie glared at the back of the bus driver's head and answered. "We're out of the way, I guess."

"I hate the city," Kurt said sullenly.

Artie nodded even though Kurt wasn't looking at him, and watched as Quinn's head popped up from the front on the steps. She didn't look at them, seeming too wrapped up in herself to notice anything and took advantage of the first seat being open. Artie raised his eyebrow at her preoccupation with herself and ignored her in turn. The bus rumbled loudly on, as annoying as it was familiar.

"There's a lot of crowds in the city," Artie worried, half to himself, half to Kurt. Kurt gave him a confused look, and he didn't bother explaining. It wasn't his problem anyway, he wouldn't care about it.

"Quinn," Kurt called, and got up and rushed to the front to the opposite seat from her and sat down. "Which class do you have—"

"Get lost," Quinn said, just loud enough to hear, but her heart didn't seem to be behind the rude remark. She didn't look at him. Kurt was about to forget her and go back to his seat when she relented a little, though still stared out of the window. "I'm going on three hours of sleep here, okay? I'm not in the mood to decipher geek speak," she added, glancing at him once.

Kurt took a chance and said in commiseration, "Almost missed the bus, did a face plant back on 3rd trying to catch it. I made it though." He laughed awkwardly, nodding his head in a nervous gesture.

Quinn finally looked at him, a look of both superiority and amusement on her face. She didn't do it to intentionally hurt him, she didn't even realize she looked that way.

Kurt, in turn, saw that look and nodded to himself in confirmation that Quinn was still mostly a jerk, and smiled tightly once before retaking his seat across from Artie.

Quinn looked confused for a second, but decided it didn't matter in the next. This day was going to be awful enough as it was.

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**Thoughts, comments, questions? Alerts, reviews? Let me know what you think so far. I know it's short, but I think that it separates time better. The title of the story comes from the song by the Pretenders that Finn sang in _Glee_. Look it up on YouTube, it's great when applied to these characters.**


	3. Chapter 2: Bad Day

**This chapter may be a little instense, so take care. This leaves off at the last sentence of the previous chapter - same day, same setting. After last week's episode, Quinn seems to have a very soft side to her. Enjoy!**

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The bus was filling up quickly and it seemed that Kurt and Artie were too weird for anyone who came on the bus to want to sit near them; the front half of the bus was almost completely full. Quinn felt sorry for them but, after all, they _were_ strange. She was surprised when someone kept walking to the back of the bus instead of taking a seat in the front.

"Shove over loser."

Artie looked up and away from the window in surprise. A large kid with a football jersey on and a bulging duffel in his hand was in the aisle, glowering down at him. He wasn't as terrifying in appearance as some of the jocks at McKinley, but he _was_ still huge. Artie thought he looked kind of like he was imagining roasting him on a spit if he didn't do as he was ordered and move, but he was strapped in – there was no way he could move even if the bus was on fire (something he tried not to think about, admittedly).

"Uh," Artie stuttered, eyes wide as he looked up at the jock. He was absolutely helpless in this case; he could find no way around it. "I can't, I'm—" The words died on Artie's lips as the guy seemed to actually growl at him. "I'm strapped in!" he yelped his plea, his voice coming out higher than usual. He leaned back in his chair, as if that would help, and cringed. The jock bore down on him.

"Look," he began sharply, "blowhole, I've got a dozen weights in here, ten pounds each. That's pretty heavy," he added lightly, all the more terrifying. "Now, every day I put them back here out of the way, and you're gonna have to shove over, or I'm gonna put 'em on you. Do you understand me, retard?" he said the last rather loud, and people in the front turned around and some looked over their seats in excitement or horror. He saw Quinn's blond head looking back, her face a mask of indecision and worry.

Artie's eyes were wide by now, and he swallowed. His eyes caught Kurt's behind the jock and he was wearing the same look that Artie could feel on his own face as he sat, frozen. Amazingly, or stupidly, he saw Kurt stand up with what little room he had, his face determined.

"Hey! You can't do that—" Kurt began indignantly, about a foot shorter than the hulking jock. Artie's heart stopped beating when he saw the jock move.

A hundred and twenty pounds might not have been so much of a shock if it hadn't been thrown on him so fast. Artie's eyes bulged and he involuntarily cried out once in surprise and pain as the air in his lungs was stunned out of him. He saw the jock turn and walk back to the front, but he wasn't really processing it. He heard Kurt saying a lot of "Oh my God" 's and saw his arms tugging at the straps of the duffel; they were getting caught on the armrests of his chair. His own arms were partly trapped underneath the bag since they'd been on his lap, so he couldn't help himself. He was looking down at the duffel, willing Kurt to move faster, he could hardly breathe. He saw long blond hair fly in and out of his vision, and suddenly the weight was off of his stomach and his chest, and he was coughing and gasping for the breath that the duffel had knocked from him. Artie leaned over the side of his chair, toward the window, bracing his arm on the seat in front of him. Someone was calling his name.

"Artie? Artie, are you okay?"

Was that Quinn? He was too busy catching his breath to pay them much attention. He finally did, and he felt someone rubbing his back and someone's hand was on his shoulder. He became aware of the throbbing pain of his abdomen, and clutched it with his arm as if that would help it somehow.

"Artie?" Kurt's high-toned voice caught his attention immediately, and he heard worry there. That made sense, he was worried too – he had no idea what inside him had just been smashed, but it didn't feel too good. He sort of felt nauseous too, come to think of it. He swallowed hard and held up his head with his other arm on the armrest of his chair. Was that a headache coming on? Every throb of his stomach made his head hurt more. He wasn't going to cry, though. He wasn't. This was already a first-day humiliation.

"Artie?"

Glancing over without moving his head too much, Artie saw Quinn kneeling in front of him with her hand on his knee. She looked kinder than he'd ever seen, and his eyes locked with hers as he tried his best to swallow back the pain of his upper body. One second the throbbing would lessen and the next it would return with a vengeance. He gritted his teeth and tried to distract himself by looking for Kurt. He found him sitting in his seat (the only place there was space), leaning over with his hand on the chair's armrest, watching him worriedly.

When Kurt saw Artie look at him, he asked him clearly again, "Are you okay?" Kurt could barely stand to keep eye contact with Artie with the look on his face, clearly in pain. He glanced up the aisle at the people in the front who were staring curiously.

"What are you looking at?" he barked at them, and a few turned back to the front, but most didn't. He looked back to Artie who was still looking at him. He hadn't said if he was okay yet, so Kurt figured it was worse than it looked. Kurt could see a couple of cuts on his arms where the rough fabric of the duffel bag and plastic stitching had caught his skin when they'd been trying to yank the thing off of him. He looked totally helpless in that moment and Kurt swallowed the lump in his throat at his horror of the situation. Kurt felt like crying and felt his face turning red from indignation and anger. He shared a look with Quinn for the briefest of seconds as they heard the yells of the bus driver outside with the large jock.

"We're not moving," he heard Artie say, and his chest clenched at how weak his voice was.

"The bus driver's talking to the guy," Kurt said shakily, yet, his was tone was hard. He shared another look with Quinn, and her face was mostly just worried.

"Artie," Quinn said with her hand still on his knee. "We're going to be out of here in just a minute, do you think you can make it?" she asked seriously. "I don't know how far exactly we are from the school," she glanced at Kurt, but he shook his head that he didn't know either, "but as soon as we are, the nurse can look at you." She saw him close his eyes and turn his head into his hand more, and she wondered if he was in pain or just exhausted. He didn't look too well. She saw that his arms up to his elbows were red; the position he was in couldn't be comfortable.

Artie hung on to her caring voice as he clenched his eyes shut and tried to ignore his body. He itched to jump out of the chair and just lie flat or sleep or _something_ other than being there right then. He wished Tina was here. That gave him an idea, and he cleared his throat a few times to make sure his voice didn't crack when he spoke.

"Can—" His voice came out weak and he tried to make it sound stronger. "Can you call Tina?" he asked. He wasn't really looking at either of them when he spoke, but he knew that Kurt would have her number in his phone at least.

"Sure," Kurt said quickly. He steadied himself and the others did the same as the bus jolted to a rumbling start again. He looked her up on his phone and hit send. It rang three times before she answered with a yawn first.

"Kurt?"

"Tina?" Kurt's voice shook, and he looked away from Quinn's face watching him expectantly. "Tina," he said, his voice stronger, "Artie uh," he glanced uncertainly at him but he still had his eyes closed and his head turned away. "Artie wants to talk to you," he finished lamely. He passed the phone to Quinn who in turn placed the phone in the hand Artie moved away from his stomach. They both felt the need to look away when he talked to her.

Artie grasped the phone like a lifeline and put it to his ear with the knowledge that he'd feel better in just a few seconds after hearing her voice.

"Tina?" he said almost plaintively.

"Artie?" her voice was instantly worried and he heard someone in the background saying something. He heard her shush the person, and she spoke again, and he was so glad to hear her in that moment. He felt his back relax a little and his headache lessened a little bit at the reduced stress. She was asking him things, and he just drowned happily in her voice and spoke a few sentences himself until they made it to the school ten long minutes later.

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**Well. Alerts, reviews? Quesions, comments? Thank you! I love writting this story.**


	4. Chapter 3: Hate On Me

**Author's note: Okay, so I had this done yesterday, but I held back posting it because it didn't feel it was quite completed, but I think that I fixed that. It's still a little intense right now, but I'm going to lighten it a little and give Kurt and Quinn some of their own problems. It's gonna be cool.**

**I hadn't intended for this story to get quite as intense as it did so quickly but I think, to full appreciate the eventual outcome, you have to see everything that happens, hence this chapter. Thank you all for sticking with this story. Kurt's known Artie for a while now, but they haven't really been close. Kurt is naturally a caring person and watching someone he knows go through that kind of pain and humiliation just makes him feel all the more for that person. Kurt is full of caring that he would gladly share with anyone, in my opinion. Awesome season finale with Artie actually singing! :-D Not too much of Kurt, but he's in the full song version of "Don't Stop Believin'" so it's cool.**

**Wasn't that a cute moment between Kurt and Quinn in the last scene? Mercedes and Kurt crying while holding hands and singing really shows you how close they are, and I put that in this chapter. Thank you again to everyone! :-D**

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"This is insane," Kurt said, pacing outside the nurse's office. He put his hand to his forehead a he turned again.

"I have to go to class," Quinn announced quietly and grabbed her bag from the floor. She didn't look at him, just went in and asked the nurse for a pass.

Kurt stared after her in shock and stepped in front of her when she came back out and tried to leave unnoticed.

"You can't go," Kurt said in a tone that implied his statement had been obvious. Quinn didn't say anything or look at him, just tried to move around him. Kurt put his arms up to block her path and she was forced to look at him finally.

"Artie's going to be fine." Her tone implied she thought Kurt was stupid.

He didn't understand her, what was her problem? "Fine?" He shook his head at her in disbelief. "He is _not_ going to be fine – didn't you see him?"

"Of course I saw him. That's not the point. It just happened, Kurt. Get over it," Quinn finished and shoved by him.

Kurt's brow went down and he stared after her completely clueless as to what she'd meant and how she could just leave Artie. An hour ago, she'd been encouraging and helpful, and she'd refused to leave Artie's side until they were at the nurse! What, what, _what_ had changed in an hour?

It took a moment for Kurt to realize that his phone was buzzing in his pocket.

His face felt stuck in the same expression, unable to move for all his confusion and stress. He felt oddly like a mobile statue (if that were possible) as he retrieved his new text message.

**How is he**

Kurt let out a breath and felt some tension leave him as he did so. Finn was texting him about Artie. He replied quickly, grateful for the distraction.

_I dont know yet. They wont let me see him_

He couldn't explain it but, to him, Finn gave off an air of stability – he'd be the one to run into a burning building to save you, should he be faced with the decision. Despite the comfort of hearing from him, Kurt was surprised to see the screen of his phone move and he realized his hands were shaking a bit. He stared at them, feeling a sudden need to cry. He bit his lip hard and closed his eyes for a moment, clutching the phone between his fingers, willing himself to keep his cool. He jumped when his phone buzzed again, Mercedes' picture and name popping up on the screen. He opened the message so fast that he barely noticed it himself.

**It's gonna be okay.**

His breath came out of him in a sort of laugh of relief. Thank God for Mercedes; she was his _best_ friend ever. He knew that if he could be totally honest and then some with anyone, it was her, and he felt that familiar comfort acutely now.

_Thanks. This is so wrong._

He pressed send and flipped his phone closed. He knew that everyone on the team had heard about Artie if Mercedes knew.

Kurt's head turned expectantly, his heart leaping in strangled excitement when he heard the clapping footsteps and deep voices of the principle and vice principle exiting the nurse's office. It only took him a moment, though, for him to realize what was happening. His heart started racing and his eyes flew to the window, his feet following. Down below, he saw the flashing lights that corresponded to the sirens he'd just picked up in the distance.

"No." Kurt whispered the plea. He heard a commotion from behind him coming out of the nurse's office, and he couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard Artie's voice once in the babble of voices.

Kurt's phone buzzed but he ignored it in favor of inching toward the door of the office. He jumped back when four large men in black EMT uniforms came speeding down the hallway, a gurney between them. Kurt's eyes, brain, chest, emotions all froze at the sight, and he pressed his back and palms against the cold, off-white wall behind him. This wasn't happening, he was sure.

The paramedics failed to close the door behind them, and Kurt's head tilted toward the open doorway unconsciously. He didn't know what he was waiting to hear, but one "code blue" and he knew he'd be on the floor in seconds. He hadn't thought that it had been that serious!

"Wait!" he heard Artie's voice, strong and loud, and he nearly fainted in relief. Dying people didn't sound that good.

"God," Kurt whispered, his cheeks red, the back of his neck sweaty, his palms supporting him on the wall. He heard squeaking and almost jumped out of his skin when the gurney passed by him through the doorway.

"Artie!" Kurt said loudly without thinking. Two burly men turned their heads in his direction but kept moving the gurney down the hall toward the elevator.

"You have to take him with us," Kurt heard Artie insist to one of the men.

"He's my health aid!" Artie yelped in desperation, thinking the lie his only shot. They'd be at the hospital before his doctor would come in and inform them all that he didn't actually have one, let alone one named Kurt Hummel.

"Are you his health aid?" one of the men asked Kurt, stopping and letting the others take care of wheeling Artie to the elevator.

"Yes," Kurt nodded and stepped forward expectantly, knowing that was the only way that he'd be able to see what was going on with Artie. He didn't actually know what a health aid was, but he would pretend to be a snake wrestler before he let Artie go off without him, where anything could happen to him and him not know a thing about it! His nerves were clearly frazzled and frayed.

The EMT looked undecided but, in the end, he waved him along with him. Kurt leapt from the spot by the wall and fairly flew after them down the hallway, his heart lighter than it had been in an hour.

Kurt watched Artie being loaded into the back of the ambulance and he watched, biting the nails on one of his hands, a nervous gesture. He was tapping his foot too. Artie's eyes were closed, but he didn't look too bad at that moment.

There wasn't much room in the back of the ambulance, but since there weren't enough vehicles to transport everyone including Kurt, they stuffed him in the back next to a thing with drawers that held supplies. Kurt watched the EMT ask Artie questions, and it was all so impersonal and cold, and Kurt's stomach twisted at Artie having to keep answering questions even though he was in pain and clearly exhausted. After a few minutes, the EMT paused in his questioning and just filled in the forms he had attached to his clipboard.

Artie's eyes came up to his, and Kurt tried to smile a little in encouragement, just wanting to make him feel better for all the crap he'd had put up with today, none of it his fault. He wished again that the fat jock would be expelled. He hadn't heard anything about that yet.

The EMT cleared his throat, and Kurt got the feeling that he wasn't going to like what he said next.

"I need to examine your ribs, buddy," the EMT said regretfully, and Kurt turned his head back to look at Artie just in time to see him wince.

"They hurt. Isn't that enough?" Artie asked semi-hopefully. Kurt cringed and turned his head back to the EMT.

"'Fraid not, son," the large man replied quietly, looking Artie in the eye. "I need to know where the damage is."

Artie couldn't bare to hold that caring, yet at the same time impartial, gaze and he turned his head away. His eyes happened to land on Kurt, and he was watching him. He was momentarily stunned by the difference in gazes. Kurt's was so friendly, so caring – it totally threw him. That was, until the paramedic prodded his lower ribs.

"Ah!" Artie cried out in pain, unconsciously bringing his arms up to protect the spot.

Kurt watched Artie's face scrunch up in pain, and he had to turn his head away and grip the supplies cupboard next to him to get through the next couple of moments. He wasn't good at watching people hurt. A couple of tears spilled over and he didn't blink soon enough to keep them there. He wiped them away hastily and turned expectantly back to Artie, intending to be some sort of strength or comfort or _something_ for him. This situation was so intense, Kurt was wondering if the day was ever going to be over. His eyes caught Artie's limp hand resting on the side of the gurney and saw the EMT going for another poke at Artie's ribs. He grabbed his hand without thinking, and got to it just as Artie yelped again. Artie looked at him, and Kurt could tell he was a little surprised, but not ungrateful for the help, though he didn't speak.

Artie looked at the paramedic, intending to communicate his annoyance and warning to _not_ do that again, if he would be so kind. Something on the EMT's face made Artie narrow his eyes in confusion, and then he glared when he realized what was going on.

Kurt saw Artie glare at the EMT. He glanced at the paramedic when he saw this and saw the man's eyes moving from their clasped hands to his own face. He wasn't...? He felt the shock on his face as he realized the paramedic's thoughts – and it confirmed them when Kurt saw him shift back a little away from him on the silver bench they shared at that moment. Kurt's eyebrows rose and his stomach flip-flopped at the look on the man's face and his actions. He was supposed to be helping Artie, for frick's sake!

In the next moment, the EMT was effectively invisible, and Kurt ignored him all the way to the hospital, though his bright red, burning face made Artie realize that he hadn't been okay at all with the man's actions, or ignorant of his opinions.

* * *

**Comments? Questions? Alerts, reviews? Let me know that you are reading and if you like it. Thank you all for all of your kind words, I cherish them all.**


	5. Chapter 4: If Everyone Cared

A/N: So good to write this story again. This week's episode with Kurt and Burt and Finn made me want to write a lot. Here's a new bit, I hope that you like it. I think that, in general, this is a good Burt theme song: "Walk Tall" by John Mellencamp. You can look it up on YouTube if you want to hear it, or search iTunes, but YT is free. For Kurt, I think that he would find help by listening to these songs: "Something Bad" from the musical _Wicked_ by the Original Broadway Cast. And, "When I Look at You" by Miley Cyrus. Finn's song: "How Does it Feel" by Sugarcult. And, "If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback. Enjoy.

* * *

"Slow down, Kurt, everything's going to be all right; I'm on the highway right now. Just, meet me in the lobby, okay? I will be right there. Yeah," Burt glanced in Finn's direction for a fraction of a second. "Finn called me… Okay."

Burt pressed the End button while staring straight ahead, out the windshield. His expression was flat in a kind of way that Finn saw as him being really upset.

He'd come to realize that when the both of them – Kurt and Burt – didn't say anything, that was when they were the most… upset, or whatever you would want to call it. Finn's brow went down at the tense atmosphere as he too stared out the windshield, unable to come up with a good idea of what to say. But, silence made him more antsy, so he talked anyway.

Finn rubbed his palms on his knees in a nervous gesture before he said, "This is so wrong." Finn's brow went down even further after saying that, since it was truer than his nervous brain had had time to realize.

Burt pushed down harder on the accelerator and said nothing. He couldn't get the sound of Kurt's voice out of his head. Scared. He couldn't stand for his son to be scared. He always had to protect him.

Finn had heard from Rachel, who had heard from Tina, what had happened, and Finn had called Burt. From there, Burt had called Kurt. And now, here they were, speeding toward the hospital.

Burt's face got hard for a second before he opened his mouth. He half-shook his head, but kept his eyes on the road. "How…" Burt paused for a second, as if asking himself the question, internally, first. "How does something like this happen? On a school bus?"

Finn stayed quiet because he knew that he didn't have a response to that. Burt went on, gesturing with his right hand as he kept his left on the wheel.

"I know… I know that guys fool around. There's jocks and then there's bullies, and they're the ones that you have to look out for—they don't know when to quit, where to draw the line—but, how does something like that happen to a kid when he's just riding the school bus on his first day?"

Burt didn't have an answer to that question, and that frustrated him. He needed to get to the hospital as soon as he could without breaking the speed limit too obviously.

"There are some really ugly guys out there," Finn said, thinking of a few that he knew from games with local teams. "They take all that stuff way too far. It's like Kerroski on steroids," he said, even though he knew Burt wouldn't know who he was talking about. He was nervous, he was kind of babbling.

"'That stuff'?" Burt echoed, glancing over at Finn for a second.

"Uhh.." Finn didn't know how to explain himself accurately enough to not give the wrong message. "You know, that thing jocks do. Get on peoples' cases." Finn trailed off with a wince. That hadn't come out right.

"You mean bullying," Burt said for him, gesturing with his chin in the direction of their destination.

Finn hesitated for a second, thinking that over. He guessed that that _was_ what he'd meant. He was more glad now than ever for joining the Glee club. He'd learned that was stupid and wrong. He'd like to think that other guys just hadn't had the opportunity that he'd had with Glee to see how wrong that had been, but he wasn't quite that naïve.

Finn nodded once with a bit of a hard expression. He didn't like to remember himself as ever being that way, but he had been. And now, what that guy had done to Artie… and Kurt had had to watch… it kind of made him ashamed of being a football jock.

They were silent in the car until they reached the hospital parking garage, a building with seven floors of cars. They speed-walked the downhill path through the parking garage. From there, they jogged across the busy parking lot, dodging a taxi that was pulling up to the front visitor's entrance. They waited in the line to show their I.D. and get guest passes. The woman at the desk had given them directions, and they turned a corner to the set of elevators that they had been told would take them to the right floor.

"Dad!"

Kurt was just walking away from the elevators when they'd turned the corner. His heart immediately became lighter at the sight of his father. He hadn't even registered Finn presence yet, even though he'd know he was coming.

Burt saw his son's frazzled-looking face and hair to match when they'd rounded the corner.

"Kurt!" he shouted, even though he knew that Kurt had seen him. He jogged the last few feet, concerned because of his son's uncommonly unkempt look. He held his arms out automatically and his son stepped into them and put his arms around him too. He heard his son sigh, and he felt physical pain for his son's distress. That was a weird fatherly thing that he'd acquired when Kurt was born. The worrying for him hadn't stopped since.

Finn stayed back, and he didn't think that Kurt even saw him there, something that was odd, and that was as far as he let that thought go. He had become accustomed to not over-thinking things with Kurt so that he didn't start to judge him.

"Dad, it was so awful," Kurt whispered as he hugged him, hiding in his safe haven of his Dad's embrace. The only place that Kurt felt completely safe in was here, by his Dad's side, and he hadn't felt safe at all today. Kurt hugged his dad tightly, and his Dad hugged him back the same.

After a moment, Burt pulled Kurt back to look him in the eye. "Are you okay? Did he hit you?"

Burt's voice was calm, and it made Kurt a little calmer himself.

"I'm fine, Dad. But, Artie…" Kurt trailed off, looking his Dad in the eye with confusion and pain clear on his face.

Burt's heart clenched, and he took a hold of Kurt's shoulder in support, and asked him, "Where's his room?"

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A/N: (Artie's songs, even though he's not in this chapter: "Yesterday" and "Rain" by the Beatles.) If you liked this chapter, please set the story to your alerts and/or comment on the story. Thank you for reading.


	6. Chapter 5: Jessie's Girl

A/N: Okay, so, Quinn doesn't really understand us Gleeks, and we don't understand her… yet. There's so much room for them to be friends, they just don't know it yet, which is what this story is about. Wasn't this week's episode amazing? I love Kurt episodes. One small spoiler (a quote) from "Grilled Cheesus" in this chapter. All about Quinn in this one.

This is set a week after the Artie incident. Artie hasn't returned to school yet, and Kurt's Dad is in the middle of torching the school for unsafe conditions, ha ha. Go Burt Hummel! I guess that this is after "Wheels" but before Quinn moves in with Mercedes and before Finn and Carol move in with Kurt and Burt. Whoo, try saying that five times fast. Enjoy!

Quinn's songs: "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield (but the Glee version is pop-ier) and "Bulletproof" by La Roux.

Kurt's songs: "Friends" by Elton John.

* * *

"The dishes are in the sink."

"Thanks," Quinn replied unenthusiastically, though not rudely, letting her bag drop on a chair. There were indeed dishes in the sink. And on the counter. And on the table. And in the living room. Quinn felt her mood sinking even further into the dirt. She glanced at her full bag of books and back to the dishes. She debated which monster to tackle first: catch up on a semester's worth of work from her new school, or wiggle her fingers around in day-old noodles and spaghetti sauce.

"I'm going to palates, be back at seven." Ms. Puckerman grabbed her keys off of the rack by the door and slammed it on the way out.

Quinn was used to the disinterest from Puck's mom, but she wasn't used to the time by herself. Quinn glanced at the clock. It was 4:20 now, so that meant she had a while before Puck got home from practice, and she had the apartment all to herself since his sister was spending the night at her friend's house. Quinn made up her mind in a second then.

She smiled a real smile, something that got rarer for her each week that she had to spend at the Puckerman's. Checking through the window to make sure that Ms. Puckerman's truck was gone, Quinn watched her drive off before rushing to the compact stereo that was usually hidden behind the sugar. Pulling that away, and plugging in the stereo, Quinn turned on the FM and turned up the volume. The first song she didn't like, and the next one was just ending. The next, she heard the familiar guitar part and turned the volume up even more. Pushing up her sleeves and unconsciously pacing her steps across the kitchen to the beat, she sang along to the familiar favorite, bobbing her head a little now and then at the good parts.

"_Where can I find a woman like that?_ _Like Jesse's girl!_" Quinn sang to her favorite part, running the hot water and grabbing the first crusty pan, swinging her long blond hair around as she moved to the music with no one to see her embarrass herself.

Three hours and many familiar songs later, Quinn was putting lotion on her dish-soap-damaged hands with a sigh. The dishes were done and she'd done her book work for math. Now, she was hungry _again_, though eating now would probably fuel her morning sickness tomorrow. Good idea or bad idea? That was the question.

Her pocket buzzed and it slipped around in her lotion-covered hands. Finn had texted her.

**where u been?**

Quinn bit her lip, thinking that over. She knew what he meant, but she didn't know what to say. Her head came up when she heard clunking coming from the other side of the apartment door. Jumping up, she stuffed her phone back into her pocket and rushed to the bathroom and shut the door. She listened to Ms. Puckerman banging around and heard her giggle. Quinn's brow went down in confusion, and she put her hand on the door while she listened. Avoiding Puck's mom made it easier to avoid awkward conversions about her pregnancy hormones. She was getting kinda sick of that, to be honest. She needed to get out of the bathroom, though, this was a little silly.

Quinn had her hand on the doorknob about to turn it when she heard someone else laugh with a deeper voice. She snatched her hand back to her chest like she'd been burned and her eyes went wide. She heard a man's voice say something that she couldn't quite make out, but she could get the gist of it.

She waited there for a minute, thinking that they'd leave in a second and she could slip out. But, three minutes later—she checked her phone to be sure—they were still out there, her giggling getting louder and more frequent. She didn't know what to do; she locked the door and backed away from it to start. She thought fast. Puck had been at practice and probably would go out for pizza with his football buddies, which meant that he wasn't going to be back until close to ten and she was stuck in the bathroom. Ms. Puckerman had probably forgotten that she was even there, so she would just stay there with Mr. Whoever. Quinn shuddered internally. That. Was. Disgusting.

The man said something from closer to the bathroom door, and Quinn cringed, stepping back another step. The door handle jiggled and she jumped in surprise, even though she'd been staring at it. This was so wrong, she thought.

Ms. Puckerman said something unintelligible and then, louder, "Quinn? Are you sick? We need the bathroom." The man said something to Ms. Puckerman from the other side of the door that sounded like it was meant to be raunchy.

Quinn's head came back in surprise and she was ready to fly out of there, but the guy was right there—what should she do, just knock him over with the door? She heard a light tap on the door and Ms. Puckerman's voice.

"Quinn, are you all right?"

Quinn started to talk, but had to clear her voice before she could get it out loud enough.

"Ye-yes! I'll be right out!" Quinn cringed again. She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and texted Finn back.

**Where are you**

After stuffing it back in her pocket, she opened the door to see Ms. Puckerman's face. Quinn didn't look her in the eye before slipping past her. Quinn grabbed her backpack as she passed it on her way to the front door. Ms. Puckerman didn't say anything and probably wasn't even watching. Quinn heard her giggle again before she shut the apartment door behind her.

She took a few steps down the hall, the yellow lights illuminating the way to the stairs down. It was dark outside she realized as she could see from the giant window at the end of the hall. She passed a hallway and saw a lady carrying a bag of groceries while trying to unlock her door. Quinn heard a door open from somewhere behind her and a guy talking on his cell phone, and that's when she picked up her pace and ran for the front door because giant apartment building hallways freaked her out. They reminded her of crime dramas where there were creepy people lurking around every corner.

Her pocket was buzzing again, and she opened it when she reached the safety of the lobby.

**pizza gino's**

Quinn frowned as she thought about where to go. She couldn't go hang out with Finn or Puck, they were around all of their crude football friends, and she didn't want to be around that anymore. She wasn't talking to Brit or Santana. Maybe she could go into town or something... maybe some of her friends would be there. But, then she remembered that those girls were a little too shallow for her liking right now. Maybe she could catch up on her work at the library or something.

Quinn kept looking over her shoulder as she walked, a tad creeped out by the shadows that the trees made over everything. She wrapped her arms around her middle against the slight chill in the air. Every once and a while a car would pass her in the darkness, and her back would stiffen in fear before it went out of sight. A black SUV passed her as she was walking in town. She felt safer here because of all of the stores and streetlights. There were a few people out, and some of the restaurants had their doors open.

She heard a gravely sound from behind her and she turned her head around with a flash of adrenaline at her momentary fright. It certainly was a dark and creepy night.

"Oh," Quinn said automatically, seeing who had rolled down their window at her.

"Quinn?"

Kurt's high-toned voice was a relief to hear, strangely. She saw his impeccably styled hair and her heart slowed down even more. She stopped and they stopped next to her.

Kurt's Dad stopped the car after he pointed out who he thought looked like Quinn. It was dark, and even this small town could be dangerous at night. He rolled down his window and called out to the girl.

"Quinn?"

She turned and he realized that he was right. He was puzzled; what was a girl like Quinn doing wandering around in town this late. He himself was late in starting with his nightly routine with his lotion and _Wicked_ iPod shuffle.

"Hi," Quinn said in her quiet, soft-toned voice.

"Do you need a ride somewhere? Home? Or Puck's?"

"No," she blurted out before she could think. "Uh, not—not Puck's house. I was just... going to the library."

Kurt's brow went down and he tilted his head. He glanced at his father who spoke up.

"Why don't you get in and we can take you there. This place is dangerous at night." He spoke matter-of-factly and nodded his head to the side at the back seat expectantly.

"I..." Quinn looked back around at the way she'd been heading. There were a few streets between here and the library, and the thought of continuing on that far in the dark made her shiver.

Kurt reached behind his seat and unlocked the back door and pulled on the handle to open it. He really didn't think that it was a good idea to be wandering around this late on a Friday night of all nights, no matter the fact that she was crazy for just blowing off him and Artie before.

She was being stupid wandering around like this; he didn't want her to get hurt, plus she was pregnant. How good could that be for a baby? He had to admit though, he was distantly curious about why Quinn had been so friendly to Artie when it'd happened and then just took off without even a question for the nurse about if he was going to be okay. Still though. Quinn shouldn't be out here like this.

"Please?"

Quinn looked from the direction to the library to Kurt and then to his dad. He gestured again to the back with a look that Quinn could only describe as "caring dad." That kind of made her miss her own father, but only for the second it took to remind herself that her dad had thrown her out without a worry. Quinn felt sad when she had the thought that her Dad hadn't even cared; he'd just thrown her out. It seemed like everyone else's parents cared for her, but not her own. What if she'd just been forced to walk the streets when she was thrown out? Finn's mom had welcomed her even though she'd only met her once before then. At that moment, Quinn felt more abandoned by her family than she had when it had first happened, and that made her feel worse.

"Quinn?"

Kurt opened his door when she didn't move and stepped out, closing it behind him. He walked up to her while his Dad waited patiently in the car.

"Are you okay?"

Kurt's concerned tone made Quinn frown. She rubbed her goose bump-covered arms with her hands and stepped back half of a step while she kept silent.

Kurt took off his jacket and held it out.

Quinn was surprised; even though Kurt _was_ a guy, she had always kind of thought of him as mostly a girl. It was his voice that made her think that, she supposed. And the hair. And the clothes. And the girls' songs. Quinn reached out her hand slowly and took it but didn't put it on. She felt helpless standing outside in the dark at night with no place to return to and no where to head toward. She thought ahead to what she'd do when they would drop her off at the library and when it would close at nine o'clock and she would be forced to walk all the way back to Puck's house where Ms. Puckerman was... Quinn shivered again and held the jacket close but still didn't put it on. She needed to fess up or she was just going to go back to that world of a crappy situation where she might even be forced to wait in the hall for Puck to get home to even take a shower and go to bed or finish her school work so that she had the weekend free. Even though she didn't have anyone to make plans with but Puck who would probably go find Santana and hang out with her since he found her more interesting than Quinn's moodiness and lack of interest in _him_.

Kurt stepped up to her a little farther, trying to see if she was okay. She hadn't said anything, she was just staring right past him, shivering. Suddenly, she spoke, quiet and carefully.

"I don't have anywhere to go," Quinn finally admitted quietly. She stared at him, feeling more lost than she ever had.

Right now it didn't matter that he was the freaky kid who sang corny songs from plays... right now, he was the one who was _there_. Here was this effeminate guy who acted so sure of himself, when she just tried to fit in, and _she_ was the normal one—he was the one who'd offered his jacket to her. That didn't make sense to her, but he was the one right in front of her, offering to help her. Quinn thought that maybe that was a little wrong, and she felt very alienated from her days of trying on white dresses for the Chastity Ball. That felt wrong now. She felt kind of like a freak now (with her staying with Puck and being in some lame singing club just to win back a boyfriend who hated her now), but the other option—popular cheerleading girl—felt unfriendly to her now, just like her father.

Quinn watched as Kurt's mouth opened in an "oh" shape, his face surprised.

"Puck's..?"

Quinn shook her head vehemently, disturbed by what was waiting back at Puck's house for her, should she return.

"I can't go back there," Quinn murmured, her disgust plain in her voice.

"Okay," Kurt said with his calm, higher-than-normal tone. His eyebrows were raised in a sort of permanently surprised expression. He glanced back at his father for a second who may or may not have heard what they'd said. His father nodded at him.

"Why don't you," Kurt touched her gently on the shoulder and gestured at their car that was idling on the street. "Go with us to the grocery store, and we can talk while Dad looks for his "necessary" high-trans-fat popcorn that he can't watch a movie without."

Kurt smiled a little at her and nodded his head toward the car again in encouragement.

Quinn looked at him strangely. He was so nice. And she was such a jerk.

Quinn hesitantly put on Kurt's jacket and followed him to their car. Kurt's Dad nodded politely to her when she reached the door, and put the car in gear again. Kurt shut her door for her after she got in and climbed back into the front seat.

"You know this is ridiculous, right?" Kurt said from up front.

Quinn's head snapped up in surprise and she felt bad at once, until Kurt's Dad responded.

"That fat-free crap doesn't even taste like food, why do they even make it?"

"Because Dad, the real stuff kills you. You're not a kid anymore; you've got to start taking care of yourself.*"

"Ack," Kurt's Dad responds and turns a corner.

Quinn hid a little grin and settled back in the unfamiliar seat, feeling very out of place, but not exactly wanting to leave it at the moment.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so that was really long, ha ha. I love this story. Should I keep on writing it? Add to your alerts and post a comment or something. Thank you to everyone for reading.

*This is a quote from this week's _Glee_ episode "Grilled Cheesus."


	7. Chapter 6: You're Only Human

**I'll Stand By You**

**A/N: Thank you everyone for your very kind reviews. Here is a long chapter with Artie, Kurt, and Quinn in it. Enjoy! Oh, and the Beatles are now on iTunes! And, holy crap, did you see last week's "Never Been Kissed"? Whoa. Oh, and I love Blaine, I don't know about you. Did you happen to see who's singing "Baby it's Cold Outside" on the _Glee_ Christmas album?**

**I'd like to write another story about just Kurt, so check the author page in the next week and/or add me to your author alerts if you think that you'd like to read something else as well.**

**Artie's songs: "Carry that Weight" by the Beatles. "Hey Bulldog" by the Beatles. "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" by Billy Joel.**

**Quinn's songs: "Who Says You Can't Go Home" by Bon Jovi and Sugarland. "Jesus, Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. "Give Me Strength" by Eric Clapton.**

**Kurt's songs: "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. "Wonderful" Joel Grey and Idina Menzel from the _Wicked_ soundtrack, the original cast recording.**

**

* * *

**

The front door clicked closed.

"Where's Mom?"

Artie rolled to the kitchen while watching his Dad sort the mail at the table, bending to read the small print.

"Had to work." his Dad picked up a letter and held it to the light to read better. "Late."

His Dad kept his back to him and hesitated while answering.

Artie's jaw set. His Dad was stretching the truth again, like he always did for his Mom. He could just tell; when he got the whole, complete truth, his Dad always looked at him when he asked a question. If it wasn't, he'd avoid his eyes. Artie wasn't sure if his Dad did it consciously or not, he just knew that he was right about it.

His Mom had only visited him once in the five days that he'd been in the hospital and she'd left very quickly. But, he didn't blame her for that really; he knew that even the word "hospital" scared her, ever since he could remember. Even so. She wasn't here now, and his Dad was covering for her like he always did.

"Dinner should be at six," his Dad said, glancing at him as he passed by on the way to his room.

"'Kay," he said as he passed through the living room.

He sighed a little to himself as he maneuvered through the narrow hall. He really hated his house. School was easier to navigate, and that was saying something.

Artie made it to his room and turned around after he entered to shut the door. His room was just as he'd left it: bed on the right, stereo in the far right corner, and half-opened closet door on the far left. Artie pushed in and stopped at his bed. He rubbed his arm; so many days out of his chair was leaving him out of practice a bit. That had kind of hurt.

His mood was going down, he could tell. Artie rubbed the space between his eyebrows where he could feel himself scowling and not knowing why. He'd been planning on just laying down comfortably in his bed until food, but the mood he was in probably wasn't a good one to sit around and think during. Instead, Artie pushed himself over to his stereo. His stack of CDs was comforting, and he pulled a few down into his lap to look at.

**W.M. H.S. Glee Club 2009**

They'd recorded a little demo with the help of the A/V club he belonged to. It had been good practice for them. He had the music video for "Vogue" somewhere in the living room, he remembered. He thought about watching it, but he didn't want to see the Cheerio coach after what she'd done to him, Quinn, and Kurt.

Artie slipped the CD out of the sleeve and opened his 5-CD-changing stereo. When he closed it, he nudged something on top of the stereo with his hand. He couldn't see the top of the player, so he'd missed it. He reached a little and slid whatever it was forward so that he could grab it. Pulling it down, Artie saw that it was something square covered in plain paper. Artie turned it over curiously and saw "Artie, love Mom" written across the back. His eyes went wide and he opened the gift quickly to see what it was.

Artie's jaw dropped for a second before his eyes lit up and he grinned so big that it hurt, before rushing to take the plastic off. It was the incredibly awesome remastered Red Album by the Beatles. He hadn't had the money to buy more than just the AbbeyRoad CD. He fumbled with the case because he was trying to rush, and finally snapped it open. Something fell out, and he jerked as the unexpectedly heavy item fell into his lap.

Artie stared for a few seconds. The shiny silver metal was unmistakable in that form. Artie looked at the case in his hands. The plastic part that usually held the CDs was missing. Slowly, Artie looked down again. He glanced around, but he could hear his Dad clinking cooking instruments. Then, he moved like a lightening bolt to close the case and set it down on his dresser. Reaching his hand down cautiously, he turned the heavy metal thing over. His eyes widened.

"iPod... classic."

* * *

Quinn had stopped feeling embarrassed a few minutes ago; she'd moved on to being fine one minute and completely mortified the next.

She felt silly for thinking it, but Kurt was pretty normal. For all of his attitude and poise, he held himself differently now in the car. He laughed and joked with his Dad, some friendly banter going back and forth between them. Quinn felt totally out of place. She wasn't used to this kind of thing, the kind of parent that joked around with their kid, y'know, gave them the chance to be friends. Quinn was reminded of her father and their differences, and she couldn't help the confused, slightly rude look on her face that no one could see in the low light of the dashboard and street lights.

Quinn cringed inside at the fact that she was there right then. Her feelings were stark in the great oddness that was her current surroundings.

Trying to suss it out, she came to the conclusion that she was angry at her father for being an asshole to her, his "little angel." She felt like she was imposing on Kurt and his Dad since it was her own fault that she'd ended up in this situation anyway—living with Puck and his mom who happened to be quite horrible, personality-wise. And being in the back seat of the Hummels' car while they laughed and graciously picked her up off the street was making her emotions mash up into a big ball of embarrassment and shame that made her face flush darkly. They arrived at the grocery store just in time for her to feel like she needed to be swallowed by the earth in a big pit of lava.

But, poised as ever, Quinn fixed her skirt and smoothed her hair methodically before popping the handle open and sliding down the side of the high SUV so as not to kick the heels of her shoes too hard. She pulled Kurt's jacket closer, and he saw her do this. He smiled at her when he saw this, and Quinn's pride made her chest ache when she couldn't return his gesture or offer a "thank you," so she didn't keep eye contact with him. She could do nothing about the flush in her cheeks, so she simply tried to ignore it and pretend that she didn't look like something was wrong with her.

Kurt looked over at Quinn with concern, not that she would notice since she seemed to be purposefully ignoring the oddness of the situation and his gaze too. He wanted to do something to help her.

Kurt reached out, always too friendly for his own good, and took Quinn's hand as it swayed by her side as they walked the cross-walk in front of the gigantic grocery store.

Quinn's head snapped down and sideways when she felt a slightly clammy hand close around hers. She didn't break her stride to the automatic doors, though her insides clenched at the surprise kind gesture. Just as quickly, she jerked her head away from looking at their hands. Her heart hurt for all the kind vibes that she was getting from Kurt, when she knew that she didn't deserve an ounce of it.

A little sound escaped her and her eyes filled with tears that she'd gotten accustomed to these last few weeks, her hormones flying everywhere from being pregnant. The explanation didn't make the tears feel less real or less justified, however. She bit her lip hard and kept her head turned in a painful way to make sure that Kurt couldn't see the state that she was in at the moment.

"Quinn?"

Kurt saw her trying to keep from looking at him, and the words just spilled out of him without his even thinking about them or their repercussions. He only wanted to make her feel better, whatever it was that was making her look so forlorn and sad.

"Quinn, it's okay."

Kurt's voice was matter-of-fact and had the hint of the question "Why wouldn't it be okay?" behind it. Kurt regretted speaking almost as soon as he said it. It wasn't his place to decide whether or not everything was okay, but... what could he do? She looked miserable and he couldn't figure out why. He squeezed her hand in an effort to make up for his prying, but he regretted that too when Quinn brought her free hand up as if to stop a sneeze, but sniffled instead. Kurt stopped in shock, and their arms tugged with the abrupt motion, Quinn two steps ahead already.

Kurt saw his Dad enter the double doors without a backward glance, so he figured that his Dad had heard his comment and was leaving them alone to follow when they were ready. Kurt took the very briefest of seconds to thank him in his head before he walked the last two paces to the sidewalk in front of the store and to Quinn's side. Even though Quinn wouldn't look at him, he could still see her face, and they still held hands between them.

Kurt saw that her lower lip was trembling and she was looking up and down and sideways, anywhere but at him. She gave a feeble tug at his hand, and he wasn't sure what she wanted—him to let go, them to go in the store and forget about it; he wasn't sure. Instead, he tugged her arm as he walked in front and across her path to a bench that was out in front of the store. She followed grudgingly, and he patted the seat beside himself, trying to get a glimpse of her face if she would just let him.

Quinn sat to relieve her shaky legs. Glancing around, she saw that there were only a couple of cars and no other people in the giant parking lot. She clenched her jaw a little to keep her straight face. Kurt's voice came out soft and high-pitched as usual, but somehow she found it _so_ soothing to her frazzled nerves. Hearing him talk, it made her feel like an ass for all the cruel things she's whispered about him right behind his back in the halls, and the lunch line, and the choir room even. She felt like fessing up to that right then, before Kurt was nice and tried to help her.

Kurt held onto Quinn's hand suspecting that it was the only thing keeping her sitting there. It looked like she wanted to run away from him, and he couldn't figure out why except maybe she was embarrassed. She didn't have anything to be embarrassed over, as far as he knew. But, no matter. Kurt covered their clasped hands with his other one, and he saw Quinn's eyes shoot down to look at it. He had the feeling that if he didn't get this right the first time, he wouldn't get another shot. Quinn was a proud girl, and he needed to respect that _and_ say something to her.

"Quinn," Kurt began quietly, trying for his best calming tone, his voice level but melodic even then. "You aren't alone here; there are so many things that we can do." Kurt leaned forward a little, slowly, to see if she would let him see her face, but she didn't. "Everyone in Glee club loves you," he said with a little laugh because to him, it was obvious. "I know that your parents kicked you out. That's unforgivable; they're supposed to love you no matter what." Kurt saw Quinn's head jerk slightly like she wanted to face him but stopped herself. He tried harder. "Quinn—"

She couldn't stand it if Kurt said her name like that again – it was a representation of his never-ending patience with her attitude. She'd have thrown him in that dumpster herself if she was strong enough. Did he really not know that? Quinn felt a hard look on her face, her anger at herself getting hotter. She'd call Kurt an idiot for being so dense, but that would be doing it again! She snapped—_stop being nice!_

"Kurt!" Quinn shouted and it echoed through the empty car park, kind of scary in the dark night. She whipped her hair around to face him, truly angry at him. "It was my idea to put the lawn furniture on your roof! And last Halloween, when there was toilet paper all over your yard? Yeah, I knew about that. How about how those nimrods always know where you're going to be at any given time of the day—your schedule fell out of your locker right before you closed it on the second day of school."

Kurt's eyes widened and his hand clenched around Quinn's unconsciously. Quinn's face got a pained look, but she forced herself to go on, a couple of the tears in her eyes falling out before she could blink them away.

"Don't you get it? I'm not _worth_ helping! You should be screaming at me right now, not picking me up off of the street, even if I don't have anywhere to go! Don't be such a moron! And look!" Quinn's voice started to sound a little hysterical. "I'm sorry for that too!"

He had to admit, the admission about his schedule hurt and kind of made him want to leave her all alone on the bench until they could drop her back off somewhere. But... he'd known all of that basically when he'd decided to talk to her on the bus a week ago, and when he had asked his Dad to stop the car tonight. So, she wasn't the nicest monkey in the barrel. Azimio and Karofsky were back at McKinley, anyway; who cared about that now? Kurt raised an eyebrow at her outburst.

Kurt leaned forward a little and looked at the pavement for a moment, contemplating how to convey what he wanted to make clear. He licked his lips when he noticed that they were dry from the cold outside. He glanced up at Quinn for a moment with a very serious look on his face. But then he smiled at her crookedly. Kurt asked her the only thing that he thought mattered at that moment—because it wasn't getting any warmer outside, and she didn't have a place to go.

"What brand of toothpaste do you use?"

Quinn stared at him, totally thrown. Her voice was still higher from a moment before.

"_What_?"

Kurt stood up and held out his free hand to help her up, but she didn't take it. He elaborated.

"All we have is Colgate, but I don't know what you use, so we might need to get some while we're here. Changing frequently from brand to brand can actually hurt your gums, you know. So, it's important. C'mon."

Kurt gestured with a nod that they should go in the store. Quinn followed him this time, mutely.

"What about shampoo? You're a Garnier girl, aren't you?"

* * *

**A/N: Alerts, comments, questions? Thank you for reading and your nice comments!**


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